It's Always Been Briar

Chapter 58.

'First, we filed the rejection for the plea deal that Mr. London submitted for his clients. Now we wait to get a court date for the preliminary hearing. So there is nothing else we can do for the Austin Reynolds matter, at this time. We documented and collected all the evidence we needed while the incident was happening.

That moves us to the preliminary hearing date set for the pending trial against Lenyx Briggs. This has been scheduled for this Tuesday, August 15th at 9:30 am. I know it's a horrible time to start her trial but I don't think we should delay it again. We delayed for 4 weeks so she could be properly psychologically evaluated.

With this timeline and the Austin Reynolds prelim hearing approaching, we should be able to get both of these over and done with by the beginning of October at the latest. I would like to have these matters out of our lives as soon as possible. I don't want Briar to have to deal with any of this when she wakes up.'

We take a little break from the trail stuff when we hear a small knock on the door. My mom pops in to give us our lunch. She brought both of us a HUGE chopped Caesar salad with crispy chicken, parmesan cheese, and dressing on the side. Along with that, she provided two iced glasses with lemon and a large water pitcher.

After thanking her and assembling our salads, William continued where he left off.

'As I was saying, I would like for Briar to not have any part in the trials if we can help it. Obviously, she is involved in both matters but I don't want to add extra stress to her or the babies.

Speaking of babies, you are no longer involved in the Hannah Marshall paternal acquisition. However, you will still need to provide statements for the rightful father's trial. As well as, if you plan to pursue a defamation of character and/or a false accusation of parental alienation. We are also still trying to find if there are credible links with involvement/conspiring with Austin Reynolds. It's your choice what you would like to do.' William says before taking a bite.

'Wait. Why would I agree to testify on the biological father's behalf?' I ask, confused.

William finishes chewing and blots his mouth with a napkin. Then he looks me straight in the eyes and says. 'Hunter Brooks is the biological father to the child of Hannah Marshall.'

WHAT?!?!?!

I am relieved and shocked at the same time. Good for me. Bad for Hunter?

'Hannah finally agreed to a paternity test last night, after she heard about Austin Reynolds being taken into custody. That's where Hunter has been all morning. Veronica is with the Brooks family, figuring out what they need to do on their side. There are a few different outcomes that could happen in his situation.'

Damn. I feel so much lighter now, knowing that baby is 100% not mine. Even though I knew it wasn't possible, it still feels great.

'How is Hunter doing? This has to have him all torn up.' I state.

William nods his head. 'Ronie said he was a little shocked but luckily he had strong feelings things might turn out this way.'

After that big news, we decided to finish our lunch before we continued with some smaller topics.

Mom came back in to check on us and kept trying to give us cookies. Such a sweet woman but we both declined her insistent offers.

'Now, let's talk about a few other things.' William begins again. I take a couple of deep breaths to clear my head so I can focus on what we are talking about.

'Briar's car from the accident is totaled. What would you like to do with it?' He asks.

'Scrap the metal and then donate the money plus $500k to the station that responded to the site.' I tell him. William nods his head while taking some notes.